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How to Play Starlink: Battle for Atlas
This article will become detailed guide on how to play Starlink: Battle for Atlas, to be written by the community. Production Update Notice - April 3, 2019 Physical editions of Starlink technology will not continue in the Spring Update and beyond. (Though not specified in the notice, reasonable consequence would likely lead to current physical Starlink technology (Lance, Pulse, Levitator, Pilot packs, etc.) to fall out of production as well, unfortunately.) Getting Started Welcome to Starlink, pilot! Once you've launched the software through your console's home menu, you'll be set and ready for launching in no time. First, we'll need to find out the difficulty you plan on facing, then we'll need to identify what method of control you plan on using. Once you create a new save slot, you'll be given four variations of difficulty to tune your experience. Difficulty These difficulty settings determine how strong your weapons hit, and how much you take in return. The higher the difficulty, the more punishing getting hit becomes. The beginning gameplay sequence will not be as punishing, however, so as to allow you to become accustomed to the flight controls. Not satisfied with your choice? You can change your difficulty under Options > Gameplay > Difficulty later on. Now that you've chosen your difficulty, you'll then be facd with a demonstration of the Starlink ship and weapon systems. Here, we'll look at the type of controller you're using: Physical The following is also included with your console's Starlink: Battle for Atlas starter pack: * Zenith Starship (Physical for PS4, Xbox One) * Arwing Starship* (Physical Exclusive for Switch) * Mason Rana * Fox McCloud* (Switch Exclusive) * Shredder (Physical for PS4, Xbox One) * Flamethrower * Frost Barrage * Controller Mount *Can not be used outside of Switch editions Nintendo Switch Edition Attach a Mount Retrieve your controller mount ("Starlink Mount") from the starter pack and your Joy-Con controllers. You must slide in the Joy-Cons until you hear a click; to take out the Joy-Cons, press the release button on the back of the controllers, signified by a protruding black dot under the rear shoulder buttons. No wired connection is required, as the Joy-Cons will act as the receiver and transmitter for the modular toys. (Placeholder) > (Insert pilot, place ship on top of pilot so as to replicate a pilot in the cockpit, attach wings or weapons) After following the demonstration on how to mount Starlink technology to your controller, you'll be ready to go! Digital If you wish to purely use your console's assigned controller, the option to "Play Digitally" will appear in the bottom left corner of the demonstration. Do note that while the Digital versions of Physical ships (the packaged Zenith for PS4 and Xbox One, and Digital Zenith + packaged Arwing for Switch) and the included weapons will last forever, any Physical attachments bought from any supplier must be scanned in every 7 days to be eligible for Digital use. This is an anti-sharing measure to discourage the reusing of a piece of Starlink technology across multiple people. For those who have bought additional Digital Starlink weapons, ships, and pilots either individually, from the Pack(s), or from Starlink: Battle for Atlas Digital and Digital Deluxe Edition in their console's store, these will also last forever. Starting the Game Now that you've chosen your method of control, you will be faced with a series of menus displaying all of the options used for regular gameplay. Though overwhelming at first, it becomes relatively simple to control and navigate. Note: The following instructions denote a digital method of playing. Choosing a Pilot Upon choosing your desired difficulty and controlling method, you will be asked to choose between a variety of Starlink pilots that you have available (digitally unlocked / purchased, or physically attached). Each of these pilots have their own set of skills (as shown under "Pilot Skills" in the bottom left) that represent their personality and history. At this point, you are unable to unlock any skill trees, but you can choose a pilot that sounds the most interesting to you, or perhaps use the skill tree preview to see what skills sound good. Everyone is as viable as you make them. Pilots also have their own unique special moves that likewise reflect their role in Starlink, which will slowly charge up over time, or charge faster when in the heat of combat (by taking or dealing damage). However, you will also be unable to use any special moves until later in the story, but you can refer to Category:Pilots to see a complete list of who you'd like to choose beforehand. You can change pilots at any time, and choosing a pilot will not affect the overall story except for dialogue. Choosing a Ship After choosing a pilot, you will be met with a screen of all the ships that you have available. (Refer to this to see a complete list of ships.) Each ship, like their pilots, are as viable as you make them. However, each ship is sorted into an arrangement of classes (High Energy, Performance, Tank, and Rocket), each with a different set of stats that harmonize with a player's playstyle. * High Energy ships carry a high capacity to boost and fire for extended periods of time. * Performance ships are naturally light and tend to have good handling, allowing you to perform evasive maneuvers faster and with less resistance. * Tank ships are naturally "Ultra-Heavy", making movement difficult, but can take a massive beating before going down. * Rocket ships are designed to run and never look back, making transit and hit-and-runs extremely fast. These also make for good ramming ships. Weight does have an effect on boost consumption, dodge time, handling, and physical variables (explained later), but this weight can be lightened through the use of Mods or Chase's Pilot Skill later in the game. Choosing a Weapon After choosing a ship, you will be directed to the "Loadout" screen. Take some time to become familiar with this screen, as you will be returning to it a lot; it is also the first screen you see when you pause. But first and foremost, you will see the ship you chose in the middle, and to the sides, "Link a Weapon". You can choose a weapon by pressing the indicated button, or press the button next to "Change Loadout" to bring up your entire ship configuration. We will return to that after choosing a weapon. Now, after pressing the button next to "Link to Weapon", you will be given a list of The "Change Loadout" Screen This screen looks similar to the previous one, but it is entirely different. Here, you can now: * Movement Placeholder Combat Placeholder = Starship Customization Mmmm... FAQ Have some unanswered questions? Visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page to try and find what you're looking for. If you don't see the question you're looking for, please leave a comment here on the wiki or on the Starlink Subreddit, we'll definitely see you! Videos References Category:Guides Category:Gameplay